Hi,
Just want some opinions regarding a slightly larger tire for my '13 Sonata.
OEM size is 205/65-16. The OEM tires, which are horrible, are about gone at 23K miles. I’m partial to Michelins, but the 2 tires they have in the OEM size (Primacy and Energy Saver) are phased out, and they don’t make any others in that size.
If I stick with Michelin, I’ll have to go 215/60-16 or 215/65-16. The 215/60’s are slightly smaller in diameter, and I don’t want to decrease my clearance as I have had a little body/chassis rub when pulling out of some curb cuts. The 215/65-16s are 0.5 inches larger in diameter in addition to being 10 mm wider, so I should have 1/4-inch greater clearance.
I had a friend hold my steering all the way left and right, and there’s plenty of room up front for the larger tire, and I’m thinking 0.25 inch less clearance between rear wheel/fender won’t be significant (doesn’t look like it will).
I’ve also read that increasing the diameter requires more torque to move initially, so there will be a slight effective loss in horsepower. FWIW, according to the websites for Michelin and my stock tire, the larger Michelins are actually 0.1 lbs. lighter than the stock tire, so hopefully any power loss would be minimized.
According to a tire size comparison calculator I found online, the 215/65-16s will be 1.9% greater in diameter, 4.8% wider, 1.9% greater in circumference, and revolutions/mile will decrease 1.9%.
Should I go with the slightly larger Michelins, or keep the OEM size in another brand?
Thanks for any replies.